A lot has changed in the automotive manufacturing industry since it’s start in the 1890s. From 1894 to 1930 there were over 1,800 car manufacturers in the United States. Today there are less than 40. The top 10 states for auto manufacturing in the U.S. are: Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Texas.

“The United States is the world’s second largest market for vehicle sales and production,” producing 12 million passenger vehicles in 2016. According to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers the automotive industry creates approximately 7.25 million American jobs and “automobiles represent the largest manufacturing industry in the U.S.,” with no other industry generating “more business across so many industry sectors.” This includes textiles, computer chips, steel, rubber and more.